"Earlier today, Samsung revealed that it won't update the Galaxy S, its most successful smartphone to date, to the latest version of Android. You might shrug and dismiss that as just more evidence of Android's inherent fragmentation or the need for buyers to beware, but I take grave issue with it. This is a decision based not on technical constraints, as Samsung would have you believe, but on hubris." This. A gazillion million thousand times this. Also: "It's simple: make a large high-end device, a smaller value device, and a QWERTY device. Maybe one or two other specialty form factors, tops. That's it. Update them once a year, and keep the names the same." It would make updating a hell of a lot easier. We don't need the Samsung Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch Sensation.

Well, myself I choose not to buy any phone that I can't afford myself.

Me neither. The question here isn't about whether you can or can't afford a high-end phone, though. The question is about whether you would want to spend an extra X-hundred bucks just on the fact that you get the non-carrier branded crapware-laden equivalent of that which you would have already paid for using your contract. Make no mistake, "subsidized" simply means that you leased the phone from the carrier, not that they gave it to you - I should know, I work for one.

1/It's more healthy than those phones which are affortable together with expensive 12- and 24-month phone contracts, which is basically the same as subscribing to a bank credit for a mere phone, and
2/Carrier customization is really something I don't want on my phone. Ever. And iProducts are not for me.

Yes, exactly! Thus, I want to have the possibility to tell my carrier to shove their "subsidized" handsets, and instead go give that money to somebody who would sell me the phone I want - ATM, I effectively can't!

Me neither. The question here isn't about whether you can or can't afford a high-end phone, though. The question is about whether you would want to spend an extra X-hundred bucks just on the fact that you get the non-carrier branded crapware-laden equivalent of that which you would have already paid for using your contract.

Difficult question. I would argue that strong phone price reductions only occur for contracts where you pay a big lot of money, so if you don't need those contracts, you don't get such big phone price reductions.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm a bit of a heavy writer, so my ideal phone plan would be 15 min + unlimited texts. In terms of current phone plan pricings in France, this should not cost more than €7-10. The only problem is that this kind of plan does not exist to date.

Second thing about subsidized phone contracts is that they force you to stay with a given operator for a very long time. Nowadays, more and more operators allow you to leave whenever you want on some of their plans, which is a choice worth considering IMO.

Yes, exactly! Thus, I want to have the possibility to tell my carrier to shove their "subsidized" handsets, and instead go give that money to somebody who would sell me the phone I want - ATM, I effectively can't!

There is a new french cellphone operator who effectively announced that it aimed at achieving that : bringing a bit of honesty in phone plan pricing by explicitly picturing phone subsidizing as a separate credit contract. I hope they will succeed at this.